


A Little Ship Lost in Space

by NotCras



Series: A Little Ship Continuum [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Romance, Sci-Fi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-03-30
Packaged: 2017-11-21 22:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/602777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotCras/pseuds/NotCras
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ending that picks up right after the breath scene. Shepard has resisted indoctrination, and now has to finish the Reapers once and for all.</p>
<p>This ending incorporates Shepard's love interest as well. In addition this was written as a response to the original ME3 ending. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shepard could feel a tear form on his face as the explosion from the crucible trigger surrounded his body.

And then all was silent.

* * *

Shepard struggled to remember what had happened. He had activated the crucible, seemingly the final push that would destroy the reapers. He struggled to open his eyes, utterly deciding against it at the moment. Peeps of the world outside began to creep in through Shepard's other senses.

First came his feeling. What seemed like broken chunk of concrete lay beneath him, giving him the illusion of being sprawled out on a broken mattress. He tried to move, but his arms wouldn't respond to his mind.

"SHEPARD! He's got to be here!"

His hearing began to paint a picture of what was happening. Explosions outside told him that there was still fighting. He wondered if the crucible didn't work.

"Liara it's no use. He was probably disintegrated by the beam!"

Shepard's mind jumped at Liara's name. He had thought that he had put her back on the Normandy. As his hearing became more acute, he began to hear the roars of the Reaper forces.

"Ma'am, we need to go it's not safe!"

"NO! If he's disintegrated, I want ashes! I know he's alive, I just know it!"

Shepard could not allow Liara to get hurt. With new motivation to make sure Liara was ok, he tried to shift again. His time his body responded; his arm shifted and knocked some rubble over. A sharp pain erupted all over his body as his mind remembered to make him feel pain. He let out a sharp cry of pain.

"What was that?"

"Over there!"

"Goddess… SHEPARD!"

Momentarily he felt loving hands touch him, and he knew that he was alright. Liara was here for him. She brought a hand up to his face and softly brushed his cheek. He felt something wet fall on his face.

"Shepard speak to me! Look at me! Do something!"

Shepard tried to open his eyes and move, but his body would not respond.

"Show me you're alive Shepard, I just know you are."

Again Shepard tried but his beaten body was too tired.

"No… SHEPARD!"

His bondmate wrapped both arms tightly around him and began to weep. Shepard could not let her go on like this.

"Liara…" He wheezed out.

If Liara had not had her head close to his, she would not have heard it. "Shepard?"

"Liara…" He tried again, this time his voice was a little louder.

"SHEPARD!" Liara's sadness turned to joy. She kissed his bruised and bloody face. "Don't scare me like that. I thought I lost you."

Shepard let out a weak laugh. "I will never leave you Liara." Despite his dry throat, speaking was starting to get easier.

Another voice interrupted the lovers. "Ma'am, that's nice and all, but we can't stay any longer. Reaper forces are starting to overtake our position."

Shepard felt himself get picked up by Liara. His body shifted up and down as they ran from the area. As they ran, Shepard was able to get a peek out of one of his eyes. He could see the conduit beam get farther and farther away.

Shepard didn't know what to think. Something had told him that he had gone through that conduit before. But clearly if he had, he would not be here. His mind hurt as it tried to filter through all the conflicting information in his head.

"Where are you taking me?" He struggled to ask.

"We are taking you to a med bay love." Liara responded.

He could not leave the soldiers fighting a losing fight. Just the very fact that he was taken out of the fight would have been a severe blow to morale. If they were going to win this battle against the reapers, he could let them do that.

"No."

"Excuse me Shepard?"

"We are not going to a med bay. I'm going to fight. Give me some medigel. I can't let them down."

Liara stopped running with Shepard.

"You are not fighting. You can't see the state that you are in."

"And they said I couldn't live again." He coughed. "We won't ever have those blue children again unless you let me fight."

Liara went silent as she weighed her options. She couldn't bear to see him in this state, but she also couldn't bear not to have a future.

"I'm not going to leave you again."

"I don't plan on it."

Shepard felt a cool wave wash over him as medigel was applied. Quickly Shepard was able to feel strength in his arms and legs, and was able to produce a smile. He opened his eyes but his eyes protested against the glare. He tried to get up. Although the medigel did not take all the pain away, it was bearable. He opened his eyes again, this time his eyes were able to adjust to the light.

Liara stood over him, her eyes wet from crying, and her body covered in dirt and blood. He couldn't help but appreciate her beauty and the love in her eyes for a moment. Seeing her whisked him above the pain and he stood up.

"What are you doing?" The medic from before came to the couple, the fear apparent on his face. The fear wasn't without reason, the sounds of fighting got closer and closer with every minute. "We need to get you to a medical facility! You can't go out like this!"

Shepard put his hand on the man's shoulder. "I can suck up just a little pain so I can have a future. We can't stop after a few bruises. We have got to fight on."

Shepard tried to walk away, but his strength was not fully back and he collapsed to the ground.

"Dr. T'soni, please talk some sense into the Commander!" The medic tried to gain an ally in Liara.

"I'm sorry medic, he talked some sense into me first."

Shepard felt Liara grab him and pull him up. She served as a support to Shepard as both began to hobble towards the conduit beam. The medic ran off in a huff. A nearby Alliance company saw the couple and was inspired by their bravery. They joined the couple and provided some cover fire.

Shepard felt surreal as the soldiers surrounded the couple and killed husks and cannibals all around them. They were starting to penetrate into the thick of the fighting; the reaper troops were most concentrated around the conduit beam.

Soon soldiers began to drop off. Shepard grabbed one of their pistols as they continued on. They could not stop now or they would die.

The screech of a reaper capital ship sounded behind them. The group began to move faster; knowing that if the ship caught them all was done. Soon they were extremely close to the conduit beam. The screeches of the reaper were getting closer and closer. Several husks rushed them but they were quickly put down by the soldiers. A marauder appeared from behind a pylon near the beam. Liara shot it down before it could do anything.

Another screech boomed above them; the reaper had caught up to them. Forgetting the pain, Shepard began to sprint at the crucible beam with Liara. The sound of a reaper beam sounded behind them, it rushed closer and closer. The couple dove through into the crucible beam, and suddenly everything went silent.

* * *

In an instant the scenery of a war torn London changed to the citadel. The receiving end of the beam shot them out and they continued their dive. The landing was surprisingly soft.

Liara screamed and Shepard got up. Liara was pointing to what they had landed on. Shepard realized why the landing was so soft; they had landed on a pile of human corpses. In disgust he backed away fast.

"They must be using these bodies to make a human reaper…" Shepard theorized. Both looked down what looked like a hallway. It was filled with bodies. Cerberus, Alliance, and civilian all shared one common horrific fate.

"Goddess, I have never seen so many bodies."

Liara clung close to Shepard. It was obvious that she was shaken by the bodies. What had shaken Liara's resolved only served to strengthen his own: the reapers had to be stopped.

Shepard could not recognize the part of the citadel that they were in. The hallway was dark save for a few consoles that keepers were working at. It was possible that these were tunnels that the keepers used to maintain the citadel.

They began to make their way down the tunnel to find a place to activate the crucible. They rounded a corner and saw a bright light at the end of a stretch of the tunnel. Together they hurried towards the light.

They got to the light to see what lay ahead of them. The tunnel led them to a large chamber. A long walkway extended out, terminating at a large center platform. Both were suspended over a large chasm. They could see the inside of the closed citadel. The arms sparkled from the billions of lights on them.

"By the goddess Shepard, it's amazing!" Liara marveled at the sight.

"If I had known better, I'd say this place felt immaculate." Shepard replied. "I feel almost like I want to stay back and smell the roses like you did back on Ilos." Shepard forced a smile. The pain was starting to come back as the adrenaline rush from the reaper began to wear off.

Liara chuckled. Shepard put his arm on her, and she resumed supporting him. Her touch had a calming effect on him; the pain was not such a big deal when he was with her. They began to walk to the center platform.

On the center platform they could make out a large console from the beginning of the walkway. As they got closer however, the image refined itself to a small console with a figure working at it.

When they finally reached the platform, they instantly recognized who it was: the Illusive Man.

"I should have known you'd be here." Shepard revealed themselves to him.

The Illusive man merely chuckled. "Shepard, you do have resolve, I'll give you that." He turned to face the couple, and did not make any attempt to hide the surprise when he saw Liara as well. "Ah… Dr. T'soni, I see you're assisting the commander with some… issues. I'm glad you could join us."

"What do you want Illusive man?" Liara replied to his welcome.

"It's not a matter of wanting, it's a matter of need actually." The Illusive man produced a pistol and aimed it at the two. "But I don't have any time to explain. Shepard I need you to come to the console."

"You will put that gun down." Liara stepped forward, enveloping herself in biotic essence and stepping in front of Shepard.

The Illusive man laughed at the display. "Dr. T'soni you are very brave, but also incredibly naïve. You don't understand what's at stake here; I need to save humanity from the reapers. You trusted me before when you gave me Shepard's body didn't you? Trust me now."

Liara looked back at Shepard, her face showing him that she was still torn over her decision she made a while ago.

"This is a different set of circumstances, Illusive Man." Shepard took up the lead. "I'm not going to help you destroy the reapers."

"I have raised myself above the reapers, Shepard. I know what they know, I know their tricks and I can take the next step. But I need you. I can raise us all above the reapers! I have figured out their tricks, you saw what was on Horizon!"

"Go to hell."

"That is fine by me. As long as I know that I was the one that was able to do the choices that were necessary for humanity's survival and dominance."

"But this isn't for humanity's survival! The reapers just want you to think that. They control YOU!"

The Illusive man went silent as he considered what Shepard had said. "Then that is why I need you even more Shepard. Be the hero for humanity that you were meant to be. Control the reapers yourself."

"No human can control them. The reapers need to be destroyed."

"I won't let you forsake humanity without consequences. That asari must have clouded your mind Shepard. Think about humanity!"

"Humanity needs the other races. We can't stop the reapers together."

The Illusive man smiled. "And that is where you are wrong."

A terrible buzzing sound was heard, similar to a reaper, and Liara began to twitch and jerk in front of Shepard.

"What is happening to me?" Liara cried out helplessly. "I can't… control… myself!"

"What are you doing to her!" Shepard demanded.

"The reapers manipulate through the use of small nanomites that break into the body of people exposed to the reapers. And she has been exposed to many reapers." Liara fell to the floor, still twitching and jerking. "This is only a taste of the power I hold right now Shepard. I even have the power to indoctrinate others to my will! The reapers can be controlled Shepard." He raised his pistol again at the two. "But you won't see the best course for humanity, not when you're the bondmate to an asari. So I am removing her from the equation for you, to help you. Sometimes people need a push in the right direction."

Liara let out a painful cry as she writhed on the floor.

"Liara!" Shepard bent down to try to help his bondmate. The Illusive man fired a shot near them however.

"Remember, you need a little push. I might miss the next shot if you do that again."

"You're a monster!" Shepard spat at him. Another shot landed closed to Liara.

"Please Shepard? I don't want this to get bloody." He beckoned him over with the pistol.

"Just go to him Shepard." Liara whispered.

The Illusive man laughed to himself. "I should have taken the less direct approached with you much sooner. Just look at my results!"

Shepard begrudgingly approached the Illusive Man. He needed to buy some time so he could figure out a way to get out of this situation.

"I don't see any results." Shepard stalled.

"You want me to spell out how you killed so many of my soldiers, when you could have been helping us with saving humanity? I knew how Dr. T'soni felt about you, especially when she absolutely needed to have you back from the dead? I was stupid not to use her to get to you!"

Shepard could see as he got closer that the Illusive man's eyes glowed yellow as opposed to the usual blue. The Illusive man noticed Shepard staring.

"You have to take some aesthetic sacrifices in order to control the secrets of the reapers."

"What did you do to yourself?" Shepard looked at the man in shock. "Are you even human?"

"I am above humanity and I have all the power! Your mind is too primitive to understand me! "

The Illusive man stopped at looked at himself in horror. In his mad quest to help humanity, he had lost his own and realized it. He hadn't even meant to say those words.

The Illusive man began to convulse like Liara had done. Then his eyes shone bright yellow and his boy went back to normal.

Shepard realized exactly what was happening. He had seen it many times when he was fighting the collectors: Harbinger was assuming a new temporary host. Shepard pulled his pistol and looked down the sight.

"Well my primitive mind has run out of patience. This ends now!"

"I beg to differ human." The booming voice of Harbinger replied.

Shepard answered with a pistol shot. Immediately the Illusive man's unshielded body sunk to the floor. Shepard walked over the body and activated the console. From what was open, Shepard deduced that the Illusive man had been trying to hack the console. But why did he need to hack into it? Why did he need Shepard in the first place?

Shepard touched the controls and immediately a bright light of a scan proceeded to run up and down Shepard's body. Without any user input, the console then hummed to life. The arms of the citadel began to open.  
A VI appeared. At first Shepard thought it was in the shape of a reaper, but then it became clear that it was actually a leviathan.

"Scan complete. Subject is human. Indoctrination scan is negative. Crucible is in range and docking citadel. I require activation codes."

"What is this?"

"I am a VI, my primary task is guarding the catalyst. Only those not indoctrinated by the reapers can access me."

"But you are leviathan. When were you installed?"

"I was installed by organisms, specified as Prothean, of the last cycle."

Shepard scratched his head. "But don't the reapers reset the citadel after every cycle?"

"I was installed after the reapers reset the citadel controls."

"But that means it was during our cycle. What do you mean?"

"I was installed after the reapers reset the citadel controls. There are no points to clarify."

"How could you have been installed by Protheans after the reset when…" Shepard cut himself off as he realized the answer. The prothean scientists that came with the conduit must have had other things to do other than sabotaging the keepers…

Shepard still had some questions he needed to answer. "Why are you a leviathan and not a prothean if you were installed by the protheans?"

"The leviathan's saw their chance to bring about the end of the reapers and gave the prothean scientists inspiration."

So the leviathans were still manipulating things behind the scenes. It made sense now that the scientists were able to discover the secret to the mass relays. They got inspiration from the creators without even knowing it.

The pain was starting to come back to Shepard, and he knew he couldn't waste any more time asking questions.

"VI, activate the crucible."

"Please enter the activation codes."

Shepard was flabbergasted; he did not have any authorization codes. But he couldn't give up, not when they were so close. He hit a button on the console and was immediately lifted up just like the prothean beacon had done. Unlike the beacon however, he felt that it was accessing knowledge in his brain.

"Resistance is futile."

Shepard was thrown back before any meaningful information was accessed by the console. Shepard quickly leapt to his feet to see his attacker. The Illusive Man, stripped down only to his synthetics, stood before him. Just as Sovereign had assumed control of Saren's synthetics, Harbinger was doing the same with the Illusive man's.

"Indoctrinated subjects detected. Shutting dow- ERROR, hack detected. ERR-" The VI simply froze in place.

"You have only delayed the inevitable Shepard, the next cycle must begin." Harbinger's thrall approached Shepard.

Shepard grabbed his pistol and fired a few shots into the synthetic husk. Harbinger was unfazed, picking Shepard up and bringing him to the edge of the platform. Shepard's feet dangled and he tried to fight Harbinger's grasp.

Then Harbinger let go, and Shepard thought he had broke free. Then he began to fall.

"Get your hands off my Shepard!" He heard Liara yell.

Shepard felt the husk hit his feet as it rocketed off the platform. Liara was up and fighting, but it was no use. Shepard's life began to flash before his eyes.

"I love you Liara!" He yelled.

He heard giggling above him and looked up to see what was up. A biotic singularity had caught Shepard in its pull, and the source of that singularity was peeking at him from the edge of the platform.

"When you die, you are going to die with me. That's final." Liara stated, pulling Shepard up to the platform. They embraced and went to the console.

"It keeps asking for authorization codes. I don't have them." Shepard told her in defeat.

Liara was silent. "What about the cipher?"

Shepard's spirit jumped at the idea. It was a chance they would have to take.

"Systems are functional. Indoctrinated presence has been neutralized."

Shepard pressed a button and was levitated in the air. He could feel the console probe his brain, running through everything. Then it stopped and Shepard drifted to the ground.

"Crucible has been activated. Charging catalyst. 5%"

Liara grabbed Shepard. "We don't know what this will do... It might very well just destroy us right here. Shepard, I'm scared to die."

"...20%"

Shepard turned to Liara and their hands intertwined. "At least you won't do it alone." He said.

"...45%"

Their lips connected as they shared a passionate kiss.

"..60%"

Shepard brought her body even closer to his. Her touch took away all the pain again.

"..75%"

Shepard could feel tears coming down his face. He couldn't tell if they were his or Liara's or even both of theirs.

"..85%"

No moment ever felt more perfect to Shepard. They were together, and they would be for eternity.

"...90%"

A great wind swept the platform, however it was not enough even phase the two lovers.

"...91%

...92%

...93%

...94%

...95%

...96%

...97%

...98%

...99%"

"Liara I love you." Shepard yelled over the wind. Their arms got tighter around each other.

"...100% Crucible Activating."

Both held each other and closed their eyes. Through their eyelids both could see a blinding light, and then they were knocked by a great shockwave. Quickly both pulled themselves apart from one another and witnessed a great wave of energy coming out from the crucible. As the wave moved it hit reapers and sword fleet ships alike and all suffered the same effect; the ships and reapers floated uselessly in space after the wave had touched them.

"Goddess, the reapers are being stopped, but so are our ships."

"I just hope the people weren't killed."

"Does that mean it's over?"

They watched as the wave hit Earth, and the many splotches of artificial light were blacked out. Only the light from the fires all over Earth remained.

The platform that they stood on began to shake.

"It's going to fall!" Shepard yelled. He grabbed Liara's hand and sprinted to the keeper tunnel.

The shift of weight as they moved caused the walkway to buckle. As they reached the center of the walkway, it gave and the couple fell.

With quick reflexes Shepard grabbed a stable piece of the walkway that had not fallen. Desperately he held himself to the walkway as Liara held onto his leg.

"Hold on Shepard, I'll climb up." Liara planned. She began her ascent up Shepard. Once she was safely on the walkway, she helped pull Shepard up.

Both collapsed on the walkway from the exertion. Liara snuggled up against Shepard, her head on his shoulder, and both closed their eyes for a moment just to listen to the quiet.

"It's all over Shepard… We did it."

"Yeah… we did."

Both let the silence come back in. Earth lay out in space before them.

"Just look at Earth. It's beautiful." Liara marveled.

"And it's all ours."

Liara giggled as Shepard rolled on top of her. They began to make out, the passion rising as the great burden of war had been lifted.

Shepard's omni tool lit up moments later to interrupt the two lovers.

"Hello? Can anyone read me? This is the SSV Normandy attempting radio contact. Is anyone out there? Was everyone's electronic knocked out?"

The couple stopped their love making. "Joker? It's Shepard. What happened?"

"Shepard?! O my gosh, GUYS SHEPARD IS ALIVE!" Shepard was able to hear a large amount of chatter behind them. "You won't believe it Shepard, the crucible released some kind of energy wave that knocked out all of our systems. Donnelly and Daniels were able to figure out a way to jump start our systems that's how we got electronics back. How are you contacting us?"

"That's a good question Joker. Liara and I are on the citadel right now. We must have not gotten hit by the wave. What about the other ships?"

"We are currently attempting to distribute the jump start solution to the other ships. Hopefully we will have all of our ships up and running in no time."

The citadel shook violently. Shepard and Liara looked to each other suspiciously.

"Uh Joker, what is happening to the citadel?"

Joker was silent for a moment as he checked what was happening. "Looks like the reapers are still fighting back. Several of their corpses collided with some of the arms."

"Can we get a pickup?"

"You'll have to give us some time to get the solution out, then we will send the shuttle. But I imagine that you won't mind waiting at all with Liara."

Shepard eyed Liara. "Oh you could say that." He cut off the communicator and took a spot again next to his bondmate.

Liara sighed. "It would be easy for a single ship to get lost out there..." She spoke as the great void of space called out to her.

"It would."

"… To find someplace very far away where you could spend the rest of your life in peace… and happiness."

"Right now, there's no place I'd ever be."

Shepard rolled his bondmate onto his chest and looked into her eyes. "Neither would I."

Their faces merged and together their bodies danced and played, with only the stars as witness to their love. This time was different than all the others; this was not a last dance, but merely the beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wow, you never see this place empty." Liara muttered.

The couple stood in the council chamber; never once was it empty. But things have changed. Not only were there no people, the chamber was dark. The citadel was on emergency power since it was falling apart.

They walked up the stairs to the top, the place where Shepard had stood when he had received his Spectre status. Now here he was, a triumphant victor, having completed his full mission.

"You know, the only time I was in this area was when we were fighting Saren. And back then I was too busy to think about admiring my surroundings." Liara thought out loud. "And now here I am, caring even less about my surroundings, because I am here with you." She put her arm through his and pressed herself close.

They cuddled a little and let the silence come back. Liara sighed, and wiped a tear that had begun to form in her eyes. "Shepard, I… I don't know where I would be without you, and I don't deserve it. I don't know what I could do to-"

Shepard interrupted her with a kiss. "You don't need to do anything except be yourself. I wouldn't be anywhere without you too." He brought her to face him and held her close. "Let me show you." He whispered in her ear. "Meld with me."

Liara did as she was told.

_A wave of loving emotion hit her, followed by a certain memory that Shepard wanted her to see. It was in his viewpoint.Liara stood looking out of the massive window in her office on Illium. From her perspective, she watched herself from a seat on the other side of the desk."Did Cerberus ever tell you how they recovered your body?" Liara had asked. She paused for only a short moment, not letting Shepard answer the question. "I gave it to them. I gave you to them. Because they said that they could rebuild you." She turned to face Shepard. "And to do that, I had to take it from the Shadow Broker who was going to sell your corpse to the Collectors."Shepard was surprised. "Why didn't you tell me this before now?" He asked."Because I screwed it up, Shepard. I barely escaped with my own life." She sat back down. "And when I gave you to Cerberus, I told myself I was doing it for you, for a chance to bring you back. But I knew Cerberus would use you for their own business. And I let it happen. Because I couldn't let you go. I'm sorry."Then the memory disappeared. She experienced a flash of little asari babies and the loving couple standing over them. Although it was not a memory, it was clearly something that Shepard had thought about and wanted her to see._

_Suddenly a wave of loneliness and yearning hit her as the next memory came to her._ _Again in Shepard's perspective Liara saw that she was in the Normandy captain's cabin. Cerberus symbols were all over the place, so this was the first rendition of the SR2._ _Liara could feel an overwhelming sense of fear. Shepard moved to his desk and swatted some things to the side until he got to a picture frame of Liara. Placing his hands on the desk space he merely stared at the picture. Liara could feel a tear go down Shepard's cheek and he banged the desk with all his might in fear. He began to cry, but managed to regain composure. He ran his right hand along the picture frame, as if it were her real face. "I'm scared Liara." He muttered. "I'm scared I won't ever see you again." His arm dropped to his side and he took a deep breath. The fear too back stage as Shepard mentally prepared for the suicide mission. Soon he got up and went to the armor locker to get things ready._

Liara felt herself back in reality as the meld finished. They were still in an embrace.

"Never leave me again." Shepard whispered in her ear.

"I… I never knew." Liara realized. "I should have gone with you on your mission. I could have been there for you!" She dug her head into his chest. "Chasing after the Shadow Broker was stupid when I could have been with you again."

"Well now you know."

"Oh Shepard." Liara put her hand on his cheek and stared into his eyes. "I'll always be there for you now. Always. We will never be alone I promise."

"I don't plan on it." Shepard teased.

"Us and our little blue babies…" Liara daydreamed. "We will finally get to have them after all."

"That we will." Shepard replied. Hand in hand, they walked onto the presentation area that was on the same level as the council seats. They sat down on it, both resting their heads on the other. The passage of time was all but lost to them.

And so were their surroundings.

"Aww looks like the two love birds were busy with their time together!"

Both jumped to hear another voice behind them. They turned around to see Garrus, smiling, behind them.

"Garrus!" Shepard got up and hugged his best friend.

"In the flesh, Shepard."

"How did you get here?" Liara asked as she gave a hug as well.

"We located you on the center part of the citadel, so we brought the shuttle there and fanned out. The others should find us soon." Garrus explained. "Can you believe we did it? WE ARE ALIVE!" He shouted!

"KEELAH SE'LAI!" Tali sprinted up the stairs to the group. "WE DID IT!" She leapt into Shepard's arms in pure excitement. She hugged Liara and calmed herself down. Liara couldn't help but notice that the other two were holding hands.

Garrus caught Liara's gaze. "You two aren't the only ones that get the romance." He joked, lifting up their joined hands as proof.

Liara laughed and brought her hand into Shepard's. "I just didn't know."

"Well no one was supposed to know until I walked in on you two." Shepard laughed. The others laughed as well.

"Well it's just for… his body." Tali tried to speak in the most seductive manner as she could possibly manage. Garrus laughed a little nervously.

"You keep coming back though, what about the rest of me?" He teased in reply.

"You got me." Tali pulled him close.

"SHEPARD!"

Grunt bounded up the stiars, followed by Ashley, James, Javik, Grunt, Wrex, and even Dr. Chakwas. Hugs and congratulations were given all around and the group talked for some time. No story was ever upbeat, Ashley witnessed Jack go down protecting her students, Grunt saw Jacob take a hit, Garrus almost got hit with another missile, but instead was wounded in his right leg because of it, and Dr. Chakwas talked about how Miranda was in critical condition. Admiral Anderson did not survive the blast from Harbinger's beam like Shepard had done. Things were not good, but this is what everyone expected; with victory here, their deaths were not in vain.

Dr. Chakwas ran some medical scans on the two, proscribing some more medigel until they could get to a medical facility.

The group began to walk back to the shuttle to get back to the Normandy. Reports were circulating that the citadel was going to fall apart and they didn't have that much time to get out. They boarded the shuttle and it took off.

* * *

The excitement of being alive had died down as they rode in the shuttle. It turned out that they were being diverted to Earth so Shepard and Liara could be properly taken care of medically.

The view screens displayed the scenery outside. Reaper forms floated amongst the wreckage of many different ships of all shapes and sizes, helpless and without direction.

"They're only deactivated." Tali pointed out. "The wave emitted from the crucible acted as an EMP wave, shorting out all technology including the Reapers. It spread to the mass relay, and our reports tell us that the wave was transferred and fired from the relay to other relays all across the galaxy. Every single relay in the galaxy has been shorted out."

"But now we are able to study them right?" Ashley asked.

"Yes, but we can't do that until we actually have labs up and running again." Tali answered.

The shuttle rocked as it hit the atmosphere in its descent to the planet's surface. Soon the rocking stopped, and the view screen began displaying the landscape of a ravaged Earth. They were going to stop in London. In the streets the corpses of reaper minions were everywhere. The view screen shut off as they got to their destination. The shuttle touched down.

Everyone looked like they had a one up on Shepard, and he got suspicious. Near the door he could hear rumblings outside, however he couldn't figure out what they were.

The shuttle doors opened and Shepard was the first to step out. He was on a platform, looking out onto a sea of soldiers saluting him. There was no division by race; all races stood intermingled in straight rows standing at attention. Hackett stood to the left of a podium with microphones hooked up to it. He also was saluting Shepard.

Shepard turned to his friends in the shuttle, and they too were saluting him. He was overwhelmed, and before he could show it, Hackett stepped forward to the podium.

"I present to you Commander John Shepard, the Alpha and Omega. Through destroying the Reapers, you have given us all a new life. We thank you and will remember you forever for your actions and sacrifice." The crowd went up in cheers, and Shepard stood taking it all in. Hackett motioned for Shepard to take the podium. A small biotic nudge from a loving Liara set Shepard on his way to the podium.

It seemed like an eternity for him to get to that podium. He wondered what he would talk about. The only kind of speeches he gave were to inspire, not to debrief. Shepard had reached the podium by now. He cleared his throat, and let the words flow freely from his heart, like he always did before a big battle.

"We did it, we won." He paused, and he could tell everyone expected a real show of a speech. Shepard grasped at tiny strands of ideas to have a speech. "We are the conquerers of the seemingly invincible reapers! The cycles have been broken, and we stand over the wreckage debating what will be next. The Reapers have gone down a path that will doom us if we follow them. The Mass Relays held us back; it is time we broke free. Those that were 'omnipotent' were scared that we would find some other way that would have broken their system of destruction. We are now free to choose our own destinies, WE HAVE A FUTURE AGAIN!"

His audience erupted in cheering. It reminded Shepard of a new year's celebration he had attended on Earth many years ago. Shepard wanted to continue, but Hackett came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. He started to lead the commander away.

"That was a damn good speech you put out there."

"Thank you sir. But I wasn't finished."

"I think that it's best just to keep it simple. The soldiers have had a long day." Hackett sighed and looked to Shepard. "And when have you taken a break? I'm sure that hasn't been since a long time."

Shepard nodded and thought about all the sleep that he had missed. Once he started thinking about it, a wave of tiredness swept over him. "Yeah… it's finally over."

"There is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about before I let you go. I've done some talking with Alliance command, and they've agreed to give you the Normandy, complete with a new long range FTL drive."

"What?!"

"You're getting the Normandy, Commander, for life. We feel that you've earned no less." Hackett was smiling, apparently very pleased with Shepard's reaction.

"It's an honor sir." Shepard replied.

Hackett laughed. "Don't give me that crap; it's an honor for me, Commander." He saluted Shepard as if he was a superior officer. "Just don't let it go to your head." He added, tongue in cheek.

Shepard couldn't hold back a smile as he realized that things could only get better from here. He began to walk away from Hackett.

"Just one more thing Shepard." Hackett stated. Shepard glanced back. "Have fun partying."


	3. Chapter 3

Shepard didn't really enjoy parties that much; the main reason being that he couldn't dance. Shepard also knew that if he got drunk he would do rather embarrassing things. So it was best not to get involved too much.

But something about the party and defeating the reapers drew him in anyway. All of his crew had disappeared when he had delivered his speech. Aimlessly Shepard began to walk.

Each race had set up their own camps to give specialized care for each of their own kind. More or less all the soldiers grouped together near their camps. Groups gathered around fires and music was played by those who could.

Shepard kept walking, coming up to the main Quarian campsite. It was plausible that since Tali was an admiral, she would have been called to duty to her campsite for a while. Shepard walked into the medical tent, and viewed all the sterilization pods all over the place.

"Commander Shepard! It is an honor that you grace us with your presence." Admiral Raan greeted the war hero from behind. "What can we help you with?"

"I'm just looking for my crew. Have you seen Tali?"

"She is not here. I have no idea where she could have gone."

A geth unit came up to the Admiral. "Creator Raan, sterilization tank 3 is ready for operation."

Raan quickly diverted her attention to the geth unit. "Good. Any complications?"

"None were observed in the scans."

"Good. Then proceed with the operation."

Shepard beheld in wonder the geth and Quarians working together again. "You are going to let that geth do the operation?"

Raan chuckled. "You see Shepard, for smaller things that are routine, the geth excel. They still held onto all their data on Quarian physiology in their consensus. We haven't had access to some of that information since we fled Rannoch. We couldn't just ignore that, and it helps smooth some of the more suspicious quarian's perspectives."

This time Shepard laughed. "Who would have thought that the geth would have brought along a lot of good?"

"We are indebted to you Shepard. Thank you."

Shepard nodded and both went their separate ways. Again, Shepard randomly chose a direction and stuck with it. He passed by camps and fires, taking some time to listen to the songs being sung and the camaraderie of the Allied forces. Everyone was ecstatic; there was finally a future to look forward to.

A rough hand grabbed Shepard's arm as he passed another camp.

"Awww, look at Shepard taking a nice little glory walk to fill his ego." The voice of none other than Balak, leader of the batarians, reached his ears. "I just want you to know that I haven't forgotten our little issue about the people of mine you slaughtered. I will avenge the millions of my people that you killed with that asteroid."

Shepard got angry at the sound of those words. "I should have left that station to get destroyed by the Reapers and let them turn your people into those terrible abominations. I should have left you alone to fight your own battles and lose, but instead I invited you into our ranks with open arms. You could have denied the gesture, and yet you still took it." Shepard threw the leader's hand off his arm. Putting his finger in the batarian's face he continued. "By destroying that Mass Relay and letting you in, I saved your people from becoming abominations. Millions died to save Billions upon Billions. The destruction of that relay gave us all precious time before the reapers came. So don't you dare talk about avenging those people. I spared them a fate worse than death." With that, he spit into Balak's face and turned to walk away.

But Balak wouldn't let it go. With an angry cry he lunged at Shepard. But Shepard saw it coming and countered with a punch that connected with Balak's face. Balak went down immediately. Some of the other batarians viewed the brawl.

One walked up to Shepard. "Shepard, our allegiance lies with you." He stated, with the rest of the batarians present nodding in agreement.

That small fight with Balak took Shepard out of his good mood. Lonely and annoyed, Shepard exiled himself to a destroyed building a little ways from other people. He climbed the building and perched himself on top.

The building provided a quite spectacular vantage point of the camps and fires. In the horizon small streaks of light were the only things left of the once mighty sun. The only other sources of light were the many dots of light that marked the party and civilization. The natural fires flickered and danced in their spots, and from his vantage point, Shepard could see many figures around the fires, like bugs to a light. Even though the city was destroy, people were still present. Shepard smiled to himself. It was a strong testament to the adaptability and strength that life provided. Just like his squad.

Shepard let out a sigh as he thought of where his friends could be.

"'The shadow broker wishes to see you."

Shepard looked to the voice and recognized who it was. "Thanks Feron. But Liara can wait a moment." He patted a spot on the ground next to him for the drell. "Come sit. Enjoy the view."

Feron complied and sat next to the commander. He remained silent. Obviously the shadow broker had done a lot to him. As if he was expected to say something, the drell spoke almost mechanically. "I really don't know what is going to happen now with the reapers gone."

"There will always be some evil to fight." Shepard replied casually, his focus back on the view. "I can imagine that all of us will be pretty busy soon."

Feron nodded, his gaze also on the view. "All those drug lords and criminals will come out of the wreckage now… I guess you're right, the work will never finish."

"At least we can look forward to it."

That statement threw Feron off, and he gave Shepard a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, now we finally have a future to look forward to, even if it is full of fighting."

Feron nodded. "When you and Liara had rescued me, I didn't think like that. I kept dwelling on the torture… the past means everything to a drell."

"Well just remember that the past is done with. You should look to the future and do what you want with your life."

Feron kept nodding as he took in what Shepard was saying. He thought for a while before speaking. "What is your future filled with Shepard?"

Shepard smiled at the thought of it. "Well, I'd give up all this fighting and commanding and just settle down with Liara. We'll have many kids and just be happy together. And you?"

"I don't know just yet." Feron replied.

"Well you've got plenty of time." Shepard laughed. He stood up. "Let's get to the shadow broker, she's probably in her room back on the Normandy."

Both left the wreckage, and went to find a shuttle that could take them to Shepard's ship.

* * *

Despite what he had told Feron, Shepard couldn't help but be in the past when he came onto the Normandy. If the past was any indicator, his squad will leave and Shepard will be on the ship with Liara, possibly never seeing his friends again.

Passing by Vega's area, Shepard saw all the workout equipment and living essentials. Shepard smiled, Vega would make an incredible N7 soldier. It would only be a short matter of time before Vega packed up all his things and left for the academy.

On his way to the elevator, Shepard looked to Cortez's empty console and workbench. He could still vividly remember Cortez calling out on the comms moments before he was killed.

Feron viewed Shepard standing at Cortez's console with interest. "I thought you told me not to dwell in the past."

Shepard laughed at the irony. "Well when there are things that force you to remember the past, it's much harder."

Before getting caught up in another memory Shepard hurried to the elevator and punched the button for the engineering deck.

"Isn't the Shadow Broker's room on the crew floor?"

"Yes it is." The doors opened and Shepard stepped out of the elevator. "But did I mention how hard it is not to dwell on the past?"

Walking into the engine room Shepard could still remember the banter between Engineers Donnelly and Daniels. He would never forget Tali's rants about the engine core, or chief engineer Adams' praise for the quarian.

The core had a dull pulsating hum. Shepard closed his eyes and just listened for a little while, letting the hum sooth him.

However he was back in the elevator for the crew level rather soon. The doors opened, immediately showing the War Memorial. All those names and memories called for him to come closer. So many names were on it, the most important being those of Thane, Mordin, Legion, Kelly Chambers, and Kaidan. Shepard put his hand to the memorial and shook his head in mourning. There were several names that needed to get added as well. Miranda, Jack, Admiral Anderson, and many others needed to get added to the wall. He knew that it would be tough when the time came to do it. He made a mental note to start mentally preparing for that.

He quickly checked Liara's office, a red squad on the door signified that it was locked. The med bay on the opposing side was also dark, and Shepard did not try to venture inside.

Where he stood, there was enough to reminisce about. The kitchen and dining table were the social hub of the whole ship. Here people took off their fancy titles and ate together as equals. Because of that, some rather funny and serious things have happened at that table. Shepard could remember them all.

"Shepard, may I ask what you are doing?" EDI's voice came over the speaker, her curiosity apparent.

"I'm just remembering old times EDI and I'm teaching Feron how not to do it."

"You have been up for 25 hours straight. You have almost died and had countless adrenaline rushes then. I suggest sleep be your only option at the moment. I've heated your bed for you to make the option more enticing."

"EDI, you know my bed doesn't have warmers." Shepard answered her. Immediately he was suspicious of why she wanted him in his bed.

"That was a joke." The AI replied in her usual dry tone. "I had assumed that going to bed was your main intention for coming aboard the ship, was it not?"

Shepard shook his head. "Nope that wasn't why EDI. In fact, I actually don't know why."

"You look exhausted Shepard, maybe you should just go to bed." Feron added, seemingly fully in agreement with the AI.

"There's one more thing that I want to see." Shepard protested, heading for the port observation room. Since the Normandy was in combat, the window shutters were closed. With a mere press of a button the shutters opened and Shepard beheld space right around Earth.

Shepard saw reaper forms floating in Earth's gravitational pull, floating next to destroyed SWORD fleet ships. The citadel, being slowly tore apart by structural failure, stood in stark contrast to the wreckage. Parts of the crucible floated right where the crucible had been when it was docked to the citadel. Such an expensive and powerful device was now cast aside.

"You got your look Shepard. Time for bed." Feron put a hand on Shepard's shoulder and led him to the elevator. He hit the button for the captain's quarters and Shepard watched the doors shut on his view of the memorial wall.

* * *

When the elevator doors opened to the captain's quarters, Shepard didn't need any more coaxing into bed. Blindly he walked through his messy room straight for his bed. The sheets were disheveled from his and Liara's night together before Cronos station, and he made no attempt to make them. He merely flopped right onto the mattress.

Shepard could hear a laugh behind him. At first he thought that it was Feron, but the laugh sounded too feminine. Then another chuckle, unique enough to be someone else's laugh.

*POP*

The unmistakable sound of the opening of a champagne bottle sounded at the foot of his bed. Shepard felt the cork land on his body. He smiled, suddenly knowing why EDI wanted him up here.

"To Shepard, the best friend any life-form could ever have."

Liara, Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Ashley, Grunt, Javik, Vega, Kasumi, Feron, and so many more behind them stood with glasses raised around him on the bed. They all smiled down on him.

With a cry of agreement, everyone proceeded to down their drink immediately.

"How did you guys this off?" Everything seemed surreal to Shepard. Everyone was here; he couldn't have been in better company.

Kasumi smirked. "We all hid in your bathroom Shep when EDI told us you were coming up."

"And boy, you have a nice bathroom compared to ours down below…"

"Regardless of its size, the bathroom still did not have the capacity to hold all of us comfortably."

"The things we do for you Shepard!" Ashley raised her glass again.

Everyone laughed. Liara sat on the bed next to Shepard and gave him a glass and a peck on the cheek. Shepard put an arm around her waist and in response Liara rested her head on his shoulder.

"I can go all night!" Vega proclaimed. It was likely he was already drunk.

"We are going to have some fun with this. Break out the Ryncol Grunt." Wrex laughed as he looked to a disapproving Ashley. "What? It's not a celebration until someone falls from Ryncol… might as well make it quick."

"It's against regulation to have those within even 100 feet of an alliance ship." Ashley crossed her arms and tried to stare down the krogan.

"Well it's not an alliance ship anymore. They gave me the Normandy!" Shepard shouted.

Everyone cheered and raised their glasses again. Bottles were passed around so people could refill their drinks.

Shepard had nice chats with everyone on what they were going to do next. For instance Tali was probably going back to Rannoch, Garrus had no idea where he was going to go, Ashley and Vega were serving more time with the Alliance. But soon it started to get late and Shepard's body fought to keep it together. Most of the other people were feeling weariness, and soon many left. Eventually Shepard and Liara were all alone.

They lay down together on the bed, snuggling together until they found the perfect spot.

"Sweet dreams." Liara whispered into his ear, kissing him lightly on the lips.

Shepard was going to answer, but sleep claimed him before he could.

* * *

The sleep felt good, but like anytime one gets the first good sleep in a while, he woke up groggy and even more sleepy. He got up and went into the bathroom to wash up.

The heavy stench of krogan hit his nose, which served to help Shepard wake up. After a quick shower he was all set.

Liara was still asleep in the bed, and Shepard smiled. It looked like he wasn't the only one that needed sleep. Shepard calmly sat on the foot of the bed and watched his bondmate sleep. One of her feet poked out from the covers, and Shepard couldn't help but play with the toes. Slowly Liara woke up. She reached over to Shepard's side of the bed, and when she realized that he wasn't there she sat up abruptly. When she saw him at the edge of the bed she gave him a tired smile.

"I hope I didn't wake you."

Liara answered with a tired moan as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Why do we need to sleep? Why can't we just be like Salarians?"

"Salarians only live to be 40."

"I wonder which is the lesser of two evils."

Shepard laughed at that comment. After Liara had taken a shower, both got dressed into casual clothes. Arm in arm, they headed down to the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

The kitchen table had everyone around it. It was bittersweet because this was probably the last time that everyone would be together.

"Now Shepard, there is something I think a bunch of us want to tell you."

Shepard raised his brow. "What exactly do you want to tell me?"

"It's something that we all decided together."

"Well?"

"Well you know how we all split up after we defeated Saren?" Ashley butt in.

"And then you died." Tali pointed out.

"And then we helped you pull off the impossible and defeat the collectors." Garrus finished.

"What's this got to do with anything?"

"We are getting there Shepard." Garrus answered. "Then after all that you got contained on Earth and we all split up again. And then what?"

"The reapers came." Shepard stated. He wasn't sure where they were all going with this.

"The point is, every time we split up, something bad happens. Heck- we even left you to go alone on a mission to free the Alliance scientist, and you got captured by reapers and were forced to blow up a system!"

"So we are not going to leave you Shepard. We are all going to stick together this time." Ashley finished the statement this time.

"If you'll have us of course. The Normandy is your ship now."

Shepard smiled. It seemed as though this moment wouldn't be so bittersweet after all. Shepard had planned to leave all these stupid politics behind and just live. He wanted to explore the galaxy without any reason other than for the sake of exploration. Now that he was able to do that with those he was close to, it was going to make his future even better. Together, they would become that little ship lost in space that he so wanted.

After breakfast everyone split up to their parts of the ship. People had duties to fulfill, and due to their extended stay others were going to be moving into better suited rooms. All that had to be done now was that the new long range FTL drives had to be fitted in order for the Normandy to get anywhere since the mass relays were currently disabled.

Shepard stood at the galaxy map looking over all the planets that he could go. In his honest opinion, all he cared was to get away from the council and their stupid politics. It was their stupidity and actions that had caused more deaths than there should have been. It was all their dirty secrets that they kept instead of sharing them with everyone. Suddenly Shepard felt an anger rise up within him. It was their fault. Somehow he felt compelled to make them pay. It was them who should have died.

Shepard shook the thought from his head. It wasn't like him to plot revenge. Silently he went back to plotting courses and imagining what planets he might run into. He had a future ahead of him, and it was a future on his terms. Finally.


End file.
